EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday the leaders of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea - who appeared together at a military parade in Beijing - represented an "autocratic alliance" challenging the rules-based international order.
"While Western leaders gather in diplomacy, an autocratic alliance is seeking a fast track to a new world order," Kallas, the European Union's high representative for foreign and security policy, told reporters in Brussels.
"Looking at President Xi standing alongside the leaders of Russia, Iran, (and) North Korea in Beijing today, these aren't just anti-Western optics: This is a direct challenge to the international system built on rules."
This comes after China's President Xi Jinping convened his Russian and North Korean counterparts in Beijing for the first time on Tuesday, a show of solidarity with countries shunned by the West over their role in Europe's worst war in 80 years.
Xi hosted Vladimir Putin for talks at the Great Hall of the People and then at his personal residence, calling him his "old friend."
A few hours later, Kim Jong Un's armored train was spotted by a Reuters witness arriving in the Chinese capital. North Korean state media confirmed Kim's arrival, showing his daughter Kim Ju Ae accompanying him.
Attempts to build a new global order against Trump policies
Xi, Putin, and Kim took center stage at a massive military parade on Wednesday, where the Chinese president will flaunt his vision for a new global order as US President Donald Trump's "America First" policies strain Western alliances.